Aeroplane.



B. J. PRESSEY.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19, mos,

Patented Dan. 9, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

B. J. PRESSEY.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 1908.

LULI'K, Patented Dec.9,1913.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NIEA Q ltt'illll'lt d. lPl'tEElSEY, Uh" NEWPORT NEWS, VIBGIN.

Specification t ltetters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913 Application filed November 19, E908. fierlai No. 463,463.

. th all whom it may concern seat) the operation loothof the Ell . trol oil the lateral dip-correetin all at ti t ll I Be it known that l, lBUnr d. nnssnr', a citizen of the United States, residing in l lewport News, Virginia, have invented certain lmprovements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specihcatlon.

'y invention consists of certain improvements in or additions to the aeroplane forming the subject oil my application for patent filed Uctober 17, 1908, Serial lilo. 458,284.

(line of the oloyects of my present invention to control, by means of one and the same swinging weight (preferably, the aviators lanes tor correcting lateral dip and these 'or correcting longitudinal dipol the main plane, another object being to render the longitudinal dip-correcting planes inoperative during ascent or descent ol the main plane, a turther object being to combine automatic conmeans with manual operation of longitudinal dipcontrolling means,.and a still further object lacing to relieve the aviator from the care oil the manually-operated longitudinal dipcontrolling means when a level and course ol' flight have once been established. 'llhese objects l attain in the manner hereinal'ter set lorth, reference losing; had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view cl an aeroplane constructed in EtCCOIdlttDCE Wltl'l my present. invention; liig. 2 is a vertical long-e tudinal section oil the same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section.

its in my dormer application, it have, tor

the purpose ofnillustrating my invention,

selected an aeroplane having upper and lower main planes It and 2, hut it should he understood that the main features oil my invention are not limited to aeroplanes at this type but may he applied to aeroplanes general whether provided with a single main p ane or with a plurahpy out such lanes, and l will hereinalter, tor convenience, rellcr to thisv element as a main plane. a

The invention is intended tor use in connection with that type of aeroplanes in which the pro elling mechanism 18 carried lay the main ane, as shown in l ig. 2.

its in the invention, lorming the suhyect oil my former application, the main purpose is to correct lateral and I longitainal dip of the main plane when the latter is in flight.

vThe aeroplane is equipped with a manually-operated vertical steering plane 3 at the stern, and it has, at the bow, a horizontal manually-operated longitudinahdip-oontrolling plane 4. Near each end ol the upper main plane 1 1s a supplemental plane 5 of such surface area as experience may prove to be necestill sary,'these supplemental planes heingshown in l as located within the area ofi the mam plane, although this is not essential. n connection with these supplemental planes 5, I employ a gravity-influenced weight for holding them in a horizontal or sulostantially horizontal position when the main plane is traveling on an even heel, and lpr causing them to tip when the main plane dips laterally to V ort or starhoard, the supplemental planes i. aving a lifting effect upon the depressed end ol the main lane and a depressing efiect upon the lifts end of the same so as to tend to correct each lateral dip ol the main plane-and restore it to an even l neal.

llhe gravity-influenced weight which ll prefer to employ is the aviators seat 6, which is carried by a yolre l depending from a lore and alt shalt 9, the latter being" pivotally mounted in hearings at the ends oft a her it), which is secured to a transverse shalt ll, pivotally mounted at its ends in suitahle hearings depending from the main plane l, thus providing a gimbal shot which permits l ree tipping movement oi the main lane loath in a lateral direction and in a lore and alt direction in respect to said seat, when not otherwise restrained, the seat having. a normal tendency to hang vertically trom its supports hy reason ot' t e effect of gravitation upon the weight represented hy the seat and its occupant.

lliateral tipping ol the main plane is caused to edect corrective movement of the supplemental lanes 5 in the following mannor: Each 0" said supplemental planes is carried hy a transverse roclr shaft 12, suitahly pivoted in hearings depending from the main plane 1 and havlng at its inner end an arm it which is bent forwardly at the lower end and enters a slot in one arm ot a hell cranlt lever ll, the latter being pivotally till ltltl for the entrance of a segmental rod 17 secured to and projecting forwardly from a cross bar on the seat-suspending yoke 7 When, therefore, the main plane tips downwardly on the starboard side the rod 15 mil be moved bodily to starboard and the starboard supplemental plane 5 will be tipped so as to raise its forward end and depress its after end, while at the sametune the port supplemental plane 5 will be tlppedso as to depress its forward end and raise its after end, thereby causing the starboard supplemental plane to exercise a lifting effect and the port supplemental lane .to exercise a depressing effect upon t e mam plane, with the sheet of restoring the same to an even keel.

When the main plane dips downwardly on the port side a reverse action takes place with the like result of restoring the main plane to an even keel. In order to correct fore and aft dip of the main plane I provide fore and aft supplemental planes 19 and 20,

carried by transverse rock shafts which may bepivotally mounted in any suitable way upon structures carried'by the main plane. In the present instance, the forward supple- T mental plane 19 is pivotally mounted n extensions 21 of the frame 22 which carries the forward manually-operated longitudinaldip-controlling plane 4, and the rear supple mental plane 20 is pivotally mounted in a.

yoke 23 secured to the upper frame 24 to which the vertical steering plane 3 ispivoted.

Projecting upwardly from the bar 10 is an arm 25 which is connected by rods or links 26 to an arm 2? projecting upwardly from the forward supplemental plane 19 and to an arm 29 projecting downwardly from the aft supplemental plane'20. When, therefore, there is a downward dip of the fore part of the main plane, retention of its vertical position by the arm 25 will cause the forward supplemental plane 19 to tip so as to raise its forward edge and depress its after edge, while at the same time the after supplemental plane 20 will tip so as to depress its forward edge and raise its after edge, with the result that there will be a lifting action on the fore part of the main plane and a depressing action on the after part'of the same, tendin to restore said ma n plane to an even kee a reverse action taking place when the after part of the main plane has a tendency to dip.

By the term an even keel in respect to the fore and aft osition of the main v plane I do not mean a orizontal position of i the lower member of t e wearer air to exercise the required supportin eflect thereon, the longitudinal dip which t e supplemental planes 19 and 20 are lntended to correct being a departure from this normal inclinatiom which, in the case of a forward dip would cause the main plane to descend from its normal level of flight and in the case of an aft dip would cause it to rise from such level. In ascending or descending, however, such departures from the normal inclination of the plane when in flight are necessary, and in order that the supplemental planes 19 and 20 may not interfere with intentional ascent or descent the aviators seat or other controllin weight should, in making such ascent or escent, be practically locked to the main plane as regards fore and aft dip. This may be effected by providing stirrups 30 on the lower plane 2 for the reception of the aviators feet, the latter being withdrawn from the stirrups when the roper level of flight has been attained. 11 order, however, to provide a more rigid locking of the seat tothe main plane I prefer to provide said seat with one or morebolts, whereb. it may be locked to lane so far as regards fore and aft dip o the latter, while still having a free pivotal connection with the upper member of the plane so far as regards lateral dip of the latter. In the resent instance I have shown one of such bolts 31 at each side of the seat 6, each boltbeing adapted to a transverse slot 32 in the lower member 2 of the plane and being vertically guided in a tubular casing 33 depending from the seat 6. Each bolt has, at the upper end, a handle 34,'whereb.y it may be conveniently manipulated, and it is normally retained in the elevated or unlocking position by means of a coiled spring 35, but can be held in the depressed or locking position by engagement of a pin 36 on the bolt with the lower end of an angular slot 37 formed in the bolt case or guide 33, as shown in Fig. 2.

The forward longitudinal-dip-controlling plane 4 is manually operated by means of a lever 40 givotally mounted upon a bearing 41 depen mg from the upper member 1 of the plane and connected by a rod or link 42 to an arm 43 projecting'upwardly from said forward plane 4, and, in like manner the vertical steering plane 3 is manually 0perated by means of a lever 44 hung to a de pending bearing 45 and connected by a rod or link 46 to an arm 47 projecting laterally from said vertical steering plane 3.

In order that the aviator may be freed llll till

oam-ta used tor this purpose, hut in the drawing l have shown, mounted upon each of the levers t0 and 4A, a spring-actuated lever 50 having a bolt 51 which can engage with any one of a series of se mentally arranged openings in the sector s aped lower end 52 or" the hearing to which the lever is hung.

'lhe segmental arm 17 is concentric with an axis co-incident with that oil the transverse shaft 11, hence said arm is free to move through the eye 16 on the rod 15 whenever there is tore or aft dip of the main plane, yet said rod 15 at once responds to any lateral dip of said main plane so as to impart to the port and starboard supplemental planes 5 the movement necessary to correct such dip.

:While l have shown, my invention as applled to an aeroplane having independent dip-correcting supplementary planes at the port and star-hoard sides of the main plane it will he evident that the invention is equally applicable to the well known Wright aeroplane, or to planes of the character shown in the patent of t). and W. Wright, lilo. 821,393, dated May 22, 1906, and many other variations in the details of construction may he made within the scope 0t my invention.

ll claim:

1. An aeroplane having a universallyswinging and gravity-influenced Weight,

means for correcting lateral dip ot the main plane, means for correcting longitudinal dip of said main plane, connections between said dip-correcting means and said universallyswinging weight whereby the latter constitutes the motive power for operating said dip-correcting means, and manually oper ated longitudinal dip-controlling means independeht ot' the dip-correcting means, all of said dip-correcting and controlling means comprising surfaces adjustable to diderent angles of incidence to the air flowing past the plane.

2. An aeroplane having lore and all; supplemental planes, a swinging and gravityinfiuenced aviators seat connected to said planes and causing them to act together to correct longitudinal dip oil the main plane, and a manually operated plane for controlling such longitudinal dip.

3. All aeroplane having means tor correcting lateral dip tl'icreot, means for correcting longitudinal dip, a universally swinging weight, means connecting said weight to said longitudinal and lateral dipcorrecting means, whereby it serves as the motive power for operating the same and permits operation of the longitudinal-dipcorrecting means independently the lat eraldip-correcting means and viceversa, and manually operated longitudinal dipcontrolling means, independent of the dipcorrecting means, all oil said dipcorrecting and controlling means comprising surfaces adjustable to difl'erent angles of incidence tothe air flowing pastthe plane.

4:. An aeroplane having, at ort and star board, means for correcting ateral dip of the main plane, a transverse rod connecting said means, and a universally-swinging and gravity-influenced weight for operating the same, the suspending devices for the weight having a rod-operating arm concentric with the transverse axis of said suspending devices, whereby the longitudinal dip ot the main plane is prevented trom aflecting the position of the lateral-dip-correctin means;

5. An aeroplane having, in com ination, a main plane, a gravityintluenoed and universally-swinging weight, a halt carried by one of said parts and adapted to engage the other part so as to prevent torward or alt dip ot the plane" independently ol" the weight, means connected with the weight for correcting lateral dip oil the main plane, means connected with the weight tor correcting lon itudinal dip ot the main plane, and means tor engagin and disengaging the bolt, whereby, while t e weight is continuously operative to actuate the means tor correcting lateral dip, it may he rendered op erative or inoperative to actuate the means Ltor correcting longitudinal dip.

ti. [tn aeroplane having, in combination, a main plane, a gravity-influenced and universally-swinging weight, a holt carried by one oi said parts, and adapted to enter a lateral slot in the other part, means connected to the weight for correcting lateral dip out the main plane, means connected to the weight for correcting longitudinal dip oil said main plane, and means for engaging and disengaging the bolt and slot, wherehy the weight, while continuously operative to actuate the means for correcting lateral dip, may he rendered operative or inoperative to actuate the means tor correcting longitudinal dip,

l. in an aeroplane, the con'ihination at a main plane, propelling devices carried thereby, lateraldip-correcting means, a laterally swinging aviators seat, and means tor connesting the same to said lateral-dip-correcting means, whereby it serves as the motive power for operating the latter. 7

8, The combination, in an aeroplane, ot' a main alone, lateral'dip-correcting means, longitadinal-dipporrecting means and iongitudinal-dipcontrolling means, all comprising ices adjustable to difterent angles oi incidence to the air flowing past the plane, a gravity-influenced weight tor operating the lateral-dip-correcting means, and longitudinal-dip-correcting means, and manually-operated devices independent ct said. weight for actuating the longitudinaldip-controlling means.

9, The combination, in an aeroplane, oil the main plane, lateral-dip-correcting means,

lldtl lltlti lllltl llli llltl it till ltd longitudinal-dip-correcting means, and lon-- gitudinal-dip-controlling means, all comprising surfaces adjustable to difierent angles of incidence to the air flowing past the plane, a gravity-influenced and universallyswinging weight, connections, whereby the latter may be caused to operate both the lateral and longitudinal dip correcting means, and manually-operated devices independent of said weight for actuating the longitudinal-dip-controlling means.

10. In an aeroplane, the combination of a main plane, propelling devices carried thereby lateral-dip-correcting means, longitudinal-dip-controlling means, a laterally swinging aviators seat, connections whereby thesame is caused to operate the lateral-dipcorrect-ing means, and manually-operated devices for actuating the longitudinal-dip controlling means.

11. Inan aeroplane, the combination of the main plane,lateral-dip-correctin means, longitudinal-dip-correcting means, longitudinal-dip-controlling means, a universallyswinging and gravity-influenced aviators seat, connections whereby the same is caused to operate both the lateral and the longitudinal dip-correcting means, and manuallyoperated devices for actuating the longitudinal-dip controlling means.

12. The combination, in an aeroplane, of the main plane, longitudinal-dip-correcting means and longitudinal dip controlling means, both comprising surfaces adjustable to different angles of incidence to the air flowingpast the plane, a gravity-influenced weight, meanswhereby the same is caused to actuate the longitudinal-dip-correcting means, and manually operated devices independent of the weight for actuating the longitudinal-dipcontrolling means.

13. The combination, in an aeroplane, of the main plane, longitudinaldip-correcting means, longitudinaldip-controlling means,

a gravity-influenced weight, means whereby' the same is caused to actuate the longitudinal-dip-correcting means, means for rendering said weight operative or inoperative, at will, and manually-operated devices for actuating the longitudinal-dip-controlling means. I

14. The combination, in an aeroplane, of

the main plane, longitudinal-dip-correcting means, longitudinal-dip-controlling means, a gravityinfluenced aviators seat, means whereby the same is caused to actuate the longitudinal-dip-correcting means, and manually-operated devices for actuating the longitudinal-dip-controlling means.

15. The combination, in an aeroplane, of the main plane, longitudinal-dip-correcting means, longitudinal-dip-c0ntrolling means, a gravity-influenced aviators seat, means whereby the same is caused to actuate the longitudinal dip correcting means, means for rendering the said seat operative or inoperative at will, and manually-operated devices for actuating the longitudinal-dipcontrolling means.

16. The combination, in an aeroplane, of the main plane, lateral-dip-correcting means,

longitudinal-dip-correcting means, longitu dinal-dip-controlling means, a universallyswinging and gravity-influenced weight,

connections whereby the latter may be caused to operate both the lateral and the longitudinal dip-correcting means, devices for rendering said weight operative or inoperative at will, as the means for actuating the longitudinal-dip-correcting means, and

manually operated devices for actuating thelongitudinal-dip-controlling means.

17. The combination, in an aeroplane, of the main plane, lateral-dip correcting means, longitudinal-dip-correcting means, longitudinal-dip-controlling means, a universallyswinging and gravity-influenced aviators seat, connections whereby the latter may be caused to operate both the lateral and the longitudinal dip-correcting means, devices for rendering the seat operative or inoperative at, will, as the means for actuating the longitudinal-dip-correcting means, and manually-operated devices for actuating the longitudinal-dip-controlling means.

18. In a flying machine, a horizontal aeroplane, a forward horizontal rudder above said aeroplane, and a rear horizontal rudder above the aeroplane.

19. In aflying machine, a horizontal aeroplane, a forward horizontal rudder above the aeroplane, a rear horizontal rudder above the aeroplane, and means for accomplishing a simultaneous adjustment of the forward and rear horizontal rudders.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. BURT J. PRESSEY.

Witnesses:

EMMA J. PRnssnY, M. S. Gonwru. 

